Method of forming artificial breasts



1951 M. A. WRIGHT ETAL 2,580,264

METHOU 0F FORMING ARTIFICIAL BREASTS Filed NOV. 25, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEETl %,Z J INiiElYTORS. 501 42? ATTCI RN EYB Dec. 25, 1951 wm -r E2,580,264

METHOD OF F ORMING ARTIFICIAL BREASTS Filed NOV. 23, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET2 INVNTORS.

dies, fiamva ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 25, 1951 METHOD OF Mildred A Wrghtand Dora FORMING ARTIFICIAL E ates, B v r,

Application November 23, 1949, Serial No. 128,974

v breast to the body of a woman inorder to take the place of a breastthat has been removed, as by u ery. 7 a

Another objectfofjth'einvention is to provide 10 through the finishedartifioiahbreast:

a method of and m eansffor designing an artificial breastso thatitwillhave the exact shape and oontouras the natural breastfthe artificialbreast being constructed of light weight material and adapted to bere'adily ol'eane'd withsoap' and l water, and wherein'thejartificialbreast formed by the m'ethod of the present invention will give thewearer the same breast appearance as she possessed before one ofthe'breas'ts' was removed.

7 Still another objector the invention is to pro- .vide a ethodoffiandIri'eaii'sYor "forming an artificial, breast whereby the' 'comple'tedartificial breast can be'comfortably worn for an indefinite length oftime without irritating th'womans or girls skin, and whereiff theartificialbreast-- Will not deteriorate-during"use?' ,A Other objectsadvantages of the invention' will be; apparent during the course of thefollowing description,

v, Inth e accompanying drawings forming a part of this applicationfandinwhich-like "numerals have eenius'ed to designate like parts through-..Qu 'fihfilfi fi ff N 1 4 Ffg ure 1 s a front elevational view showinga woman w th one of her breasts removed, as from a mastectomy;

Figure 2 isa front elevational view showing a plasten-of-Parisbandageapplied to the womans st; A I I I iff'ffq v i ur taken n th lineoffi qr 2 hrqu bhe he liquid 'rubber coating or casing applied to theinn rs rfa of th 3 Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken F gureBis a vertical 'sectiona able material;

iew showing v"the sin of Figure 7 filled with a solid mom "throughtherubber lining or casing which has bee m ved rown Claims. (CI. 31)

F-igure ertical sectional VIBW' showing "the mOdel QfFi'gureEBcuthout.so.:,.as to conform body"; v v. I I

Figure 1G is a vertical seotionalviewrshowing the nextst'ep,wherein:a-liquidirubberiback member is applied to the rear surface ofthe cut-away model?" 3 3' ii 1125.: "Figure "11 is averticalfisectional'e:view taken in shape to scars and the like on thewomans Referring in detail'zito thedrawing sy thereiis shown a method"of iand means:- for forming an artificial breast which; is? adaptedvtobe: usedto i "replaoe a breast that has 1 been removed, *as by surgery;Thus," referring'tot Figure lrthereais "show'nfa portion offaerwomansbody-A0 which includes a' normal'or-r natural rightbreast-i 'l;;;the

other or left'breast having beenprevious1y:r.emoved, the soars i2 beingan indication of "the position that "the left breast formerly; occupied.Bil 'n'deansof the'p'resent invention; an artificial breast is"providedwhereby a" womanis body-will have a natural appearance so thatthe :woman 'an' live a normal life :vvithout feeling :sel-f-con- -seiousas a"result' of=*thelos's of the breast; To fo'rm'the"artificial'breast, the first step isto has the sameinnerashape as the exterior ofthe I right breast il, l figureiaz;

The nextstepfriin iormingh artiflmalbreast Q is to rmove-"the hardened'CaSkOle-IIIOIG: 15. from the natural breast: :"l and then: a acoatingrof Y quick-drying liquid latex rubber isiwpainted {on theinside of thehardened mold 14"; as shown in Figure "5, and the coating .of rubberassumes the so -same shapeas'gethe; interior :of theimold l hich isthesame shape as the exterior of the natural A-fter the rubber coatinfliaseas est -vided a flexible .oasing 'or tlining' :I hand iihiisioasing I5is removed from the interior of the mold I4, the casing I5 being shownin vertical section in Figure 6. The casing I5 includes the projectingtip I6 which is the same shape as the nipple on the natural right breastII, and the remaining portion of the casing I5 is also of the same shapeand appearance as the breast I I. The casing I5 also is provided with adepending flange portion I! for a purpose to be later described.

The next step in forming the artificial breast is to turn the casing I5inside out, or in other words, the casing I5 is reversed so that itassumes the shape shown in Figure 7, and the flexible casing is nowdesignated by the reference character I8. It will be seen that byreversing or turning the casing I5 inside out so as to provide thecasing I8, the casing I8 will now have a configuration that correspondsexactly to the shape of the left breast that was removed from the womansbody, as by surgery.

Next, the casing I8 is filled with a moldable material, so that a solidplaster model I9 is provided, as shown in Figure 8, the model I9 havingthe same configuration as the casing I8. The casing I8 is flexible, butthe casing I8 also has sufiicient rigidity so that it can be used tomold the plaster model I9.

The next step in the formation of the artificial breast is to remove theplaster model I9 from the casing I8 and then the rear surface of themodel I9 is cut away, as at 29, so as to compensate for any of the scarsI2 that are on the wornans body. In other words, the rear surface of themodel I9 is sculptured so that it conforms exactly in shape to theportion of the womans body that the left breast was removed from, Figure9. Then, a coating of liquid latex rubber is applied to the cut-awayrear surface of the model I9 and the coating forms a back member 2 Iwhich has the same configuration as the scarred portion of the womansbody, Figure 10.

After the back member 2| has dried, the model I9 is removed from thecasing I8 and the casing I8 is filled with a suitable flexible material,such as ground sponge rubber 22, Figure 11. Then, the back member 2| issecured to the casing I8 by cement or glue, so that the sponge rubber 22will be prevented from accidentally coming out of the casing I8.Finally, the coating of cement or glue is applied to the back member 2|and the completed artificial breast, indicated generally by the numeral23, is attached to the womans body I0, so that the womans body appearsnatural.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that a method of and means forforming an artificial breast has been provided. By means of the presentinvention, an artificial breast, such as the breast 23, can be formedwhich will have the exact shape or configuration as the left breast thatwas re moved, as by surgery, from the womans body.

The method of the present invention is similar to the method employed byorthopedic and dental surgeons when a patient is fitted for aprosthesis. In other words, an impression is first taken of the naturalremaining breast II by means of the plaster of Paris bandage, so thatthe mold I4 is formed, whereby a perfect impression of the part to besubstituted is obtained. Instead of applying the plaster of Paris aroundthe remaining breast II, the plaster of Paris could also be applied overthe breast to be amputated. The moist plaster of Paris assumes the shapeor contour of the chest and then the quick-drying latex rubber isapplied or painted on the inside of the hardened mold I4, so as toobtain the casing I5 which, when turned inside out, forms the casing I8that has the same contour as the breast that was amputated. The casingI8 is used to shape or form the plaster model I9 and after the plastermodel I9 has had its rear surface sculptured so as to conform in shapeto the scars or irregular formations on the womans body, the model I9 isremoved from the casing I8, and the casing is filled with ground spongerubber 22. Then, the casing I8 and back member 2| are connectedtogether, as by cement, and the artificial breast is cemented orotherwise secured to the womans body, as shown in Figures 12 and 13. Themethod of the present invention can be used in forming either the rightor le t breast replacement. The ground sponge rubber 22 provides thenecessary weight and feeling of gland tissue, and the droopingartificial breast molds itself to any brassiere cup in the same mannerthat the natural breast molds itself.

The artificial breast of the present invention can be worn for anindefinite period of time without causin any discomfort to the user, andfurther. there will be no skin irritation, nor will there be anydeterioration of the material either from wear or from the salt ofperspiration. The artificial breast may be worn in swimming under astrapless brassiere without any absorption of water. and the artificialbreast may be readily cleaned with a mild soap and water, so as toinsure proper personal cleanliness. Further, the artificial breast ofthe present invention will not be pulled out of position when the arm israised or'with any movement of the body, and the artificial breast isindividually designed to fit the scar tissues and may be Worn in anytype of brassiere, since it molds itself to the cup thereof.

The artificial breast of the present invention has perfect contour,insures definite nipple alignment, is of proper weight and theartificial breast can be easily cleaned. It will be noted that duringthe previously-described steps of forming the artificial breast 23, aflange 22 is provided and the flange 24 helps to maintain the artificialbreast in its proper position.

iVhat is claimed is:

1. The method of making an artificial breast to be used to replace abreast that has been removed from a womans body, comprising the steps offorming, a mold that has the same configuration as the remaining naturalbreast on the womans body, then forming from said mold a flexible casinghaving the same configuration as the mold, next turning said casinginside out so as to provide a casing having the same shape as the breastto be replaced, then forming a solid model from the casing in itslast-named reverse position, applying a resilient coating to the rearsurface of the model so as to provide a back member, and removing saidcasing and back member from said model, next filling said casing with aflexible material, securing said back member and casing together, andfinally securing said back member to the womans body.

2. The method as described in claim 1, and further including the step ofcutting said model away so as to compensate for scars-and the like onthe womans body. r

3. The method of providing an artificial breast for a womans body so asto provide areplacement for a breast that has been amputated, comprisingthe steps of forming a plaster of Paris mold from the remaining breast,next making a flexible casing from said mold so that the casing has thesame configuration as the mold, removing the casing from the mold,reversing the casing,

of the model, filling the casing with a resilient material, thensecuring the back member to the casing, and finally securing the backmember to the womans body.

4. The method of making an artificial breast to be used to replace abreast that has been removed from a womans body, comprising the steps offorming a mold that has the same configuration as the remaining naturalbreast on the womans body, then forming from said mold a casing havingthe same configuration as the mold, next turning said casing inside outso as to provide a casing having the same shape as the breast to bereplaced, then forming a model from the casing in its last-namedreversed position,

applying a coating to the rear surface of the model so as to provide aback member, and removing said casing and back member from said model,next filling said casing with material, securing said back member andeasing together, and finally securing said back member to the womansbody.

MILDRED A. WRIGHT. DORA E. GATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Martin Feb. 15, 1938 Gottlieb July 16,1940 Kunkel July 22, 1947 Wilkenfeld et al. Feb. 10, 1948 Number

